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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: we're on the road to ruin _______________________________ SOMETHING WAS OFF. ELEVEN, NOR EVERYONE ELSE STANDING BESIDE HER HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE RUSSIANS. SO, WHY WERE THEY ALL TOGETHER? THIS COULDN'T HAVE BEEN A GOOD SIGN, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT THE GATE RE-OPENING WAS NOW A HUGE POSSIBILITY.
The seven of them each ran down the escalator steps, reuniting with one another. "You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!" Dustin shouted, running towards Eleven and wrapping his arms around her. "Lucas?" Erica called out, in total disbelief at the sight of her brother. "What are you doing here?!" Lucas questioned, his eyes widening as his little sister walked towards him. "Ask them. It's their fault." Erica shrugged, pointing a finger at Selina, Robin, Valerie, and Steve. "True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our faults." Steve confirmed, nodding his head. "I don't understand what happened to that car. ." Robin pointed to the car behind them all. "El has superpowers." Dustin answered. "I'm sorry?" Robin knitted her eyebrows together. "Superpowers. She threw it with her mind. C'mon.. catch up." Steve rolled his eyes. "Yeah, cause superpowers are something that everyone has these days." Valerie scoffed. "That's El?" Erica pointed to Eleven. "Who's El?" Robin questioned. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Nancy asked, pointing to Robin. "I'm Robin. I work with Steve." Robin introduced herself. "Robin cracked the top secret code." Valerie added. "Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place." Steve clarified. "Russians? Wait, what Russians?" Jonathan questioned. "The Russians..!" Steve pointed to the Russians unconscious behind them. "Those were Russians?" Max asked. "Some of them." Erica nodded. "What are you talking about?!" Lucas questioned. "Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin asked, looking over to Mike. "Yeah, and I couldn't understand half of what you were saying." Mike replied. "Goddamn low battery." Dustin sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" Steve shook his head. "Okay, well, everything worked out, didn't it, Steve?" Dustin sighed. "Worked out? We almost died!" Erica argued. "Yeah, but we didn't, did we?" Dustin raised his eyebrows at Erica. "It was pretty damn close." Steve replied, Valerie, Selina, and Robin nodding in agreement with Steve. "Okay, Russians? As in, they're working for the Russian government?" Lucas questioned, shifting the topic back to the Russians. "What is it that you're not comprehending? Am I not speaking English? We have a full-blown Red Dawn situation." Dustin said. "So it has nothing to do with the gate?" Max asked. "It has a shit-load to do with the gate, actually." Valerie sighed, remembering how they had each witnessed the gate in the process of being re-opened. Before Valerie could specify about what she was talking about, a loud thump interrupted her. Valerie turned around to see Eleven, who had fallen down onto the ground behind them. "El! El! El!" Mike called out to Eleven, rushing over to the girl. "What's wrong with her?" Erica asked. "What's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong?" Mike asked repeatedly, his hands placed onto El's arm. "My leg. My leg." El muttered. "Her leg, her leg. Okay. ." Jonathan cuffed her jeans just enough to reveal the crimson-red bandage over El's shin. "Get that off." Jonathan said to Nancy. "Okay." Nancy lifted the bandage that immediately broke into two pieces because of how damp it was due to the blood that El had lost. They each groaned and gagged in disgust at the red, swollen lump on El's shin. The blood she had lost leaked from her bandage and stained her white socks to a deep, maroon shade. Just as the wound on her leg couldn't seem any more discomforting, something that had managed to get inside of her leg began moving towards different directions. "Oh, hell no!" Selina exclaimed, her entire face scrunched in disgust as she put a hand over her eyes. "Oh, my God." Valerie shuddered. Eleven continued to groan and wail in pain, tears trickling down her face. "El! El!" Mike called out. "El! El, are you okay?" Mike asked, but the only response he got was the continuous groans of discomfort and pain. "El! El! El!" Mike slightly shook El with his arms. But now, her groans had turned into one, gut-wrenching scream.
